Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1887-10-13
MEXICAN TELEGRAPHS
ATTACKED. BY MONKEYS, ANTS,
WOODPECkERS AND TIGERS.

Costly TranspOrtntlOn of Poles and Wires.
Deprctlations of Inscriptions Ranch
eros-Othcr Enemies Besides Man.
Service in the Hot Lands.
Like the land of Grecian fable, Mexico is
paradise girt with fire. There are ut least
three distinct climates-that Of the TERRA
Fria, or Cold Land, up in the mountains;
that Of tho TERRA Tempada, Temperate
Land OH the plateau, and extending down
the slope toward the coast n few score miles,
and, lStly, that Of the TERRA Caliente, cor
: Hot dkind, which takes in the coast OH tho
Pacific and Atlantic sides with also some Of
the sloping country.
The TERRA Templa,la Is, at the north of the
country, characterized by vast treeless plains,
over which must DO hauled by railway, OF by
cart where the railway does not penetrate,
the poles and wire for the lines Oftentmcs
great loads Of poles, cut in the forests around
Toluca or Paizcuaro, IN the southern part Of
the republic, have to I've slowly aud lnbor-
iously hauled over the hot plains Of Chihua
hua and put In place by men who carry their
rations for days with them. The cost of the
poles md the wire is necessarily greatly ell
hanced by the transportation and it may he
said tina. telegraph wire, placed almost any
where in Mexico, costs the government three
times what it did landed ut Vera Cruz Or
PasO del Nort~.
Travellers on horseback In northern Mexico
traversing these vast, treeess and melancholy
plains stop at night for camp, and, finding the
telegraph poles accessible and admirably Sea-
sone,l cut them down for tirewood And this
is not all The humble ranchero, desiring Il
stock Of wire with which to fence in an in
closure, goes with his pton servants and cuts
down mile or two for use, leaving poles
oftentimcs PROSTATE | have myself seen
poles wireless, and also long stretches of wire
without poles
HONEYCOMBING THE POLES.
And the poles brought SO far at SO great an
expense have other enemies besides man.
There is the insignificant looking worm, the
"jcngen," which insidiously honeycOmbs the
poles till some fine day they fall at the breath
Of breeze, strewing fragments Of wood over
the ground. This is a formidable opponent
of telegraph communication in Mexico, and
any bright American who can show how to
keep it out of the poles. may fairly demand
reward from the Mexican government.
~ los pajaros son encnigoS tamhicn" tand
tho birds nrc also enemi"S). There is n Mcxi-
can woolp"ckrr who sits up toward the tops
Of the poles and p"cks and pcrks and pcrkS
for whole days, till the top comes Off, and
wires and cross arms go, too n great
rogue is this Mexican woodpecker, the sworn
enemy OF telegraph poles. Tho line'nen
celadores, shoot him when they can, but OF.
what use, Ono dies and forty come after the
funeral,
And then the white ants, those industrious,
unseen followers out OF timber. These tiny
creatures will cnt out the inside of pole till
it is mere she'll, solid apparently, sturdy
seemingly, but absolutely as good for nothing
as an cgSshell Up comes the wind and the
poles blow away as if they were hornets
nests detached by Il cyclone. These "horm-
gas blancas" dig ont the inside of house tim
hcrs in some parts Of the country. They have
even been known to So hollow out the legs ot
dining table that one day down it camo
with all its crockcry md the MONDAY meal
too. The hormga blanca is also the sworn
enemy of civilization and progress as repre-.
sented 10y tho telegraph.
But the Hot Land has its enemies OF tcleS
raphy also. How Maync Reid, or Ballan
tyne, or Verne would have seized on the facts
here presented. Picture to yourselves, good
friends on seaside piazzaS or lounging on
mountain tops this summer day, n country Of
imIenetrahlo vegetation, with gigantic palms
aud plantains, with junSles 80 dense that it is
hard work with a stout and sharp machcte to
make path through them, country of In.
tense heat, OF innumerablo mosquitoes, and
ticks, and malaria, and snakes, and vegeta
ton that grows up in n day to a height that
intcrfcrcs with the labor of man.
FIGHTING OPT THE PUMA.
Such nrc some parts Of the Mexican states
OF Tabasco and Yucatan, and it is through
such regions that The telegraph which con-
meets the Mexican capital with important
points like San Juan Baptista or San Cris-
tolal must penetrate. This is a country
where the linenlen go in couples, and armed
with rifles 10 fight Off tho fierce puma" or
Mexican tiger uigrc), who assaults man and
is especially ravrnous for telegraph con-
structors. The Mexican linemen down in the
hot coast country shoot many puma while
out attending to their lines.
A scarcely less formidable antagonist is
found in the monkey tribe who inhaLit the
junglcs and chnparral OF Tafmsco Literally
the woods are full of them" Their favor
ite diversion, when not i'll quest OF food, is to
betalc themselves to the telegraph line for
gymnastr exercises, and linemen assert that
often 100 able bodied monkeys may bc seen
swinging on the wire, festooncd monkey
fashion, by looping their tails Tho con-
tinuous vibration Of these forest gymnasts
starts the iron nails used on the cross arms,
and these often come down, bringing the wire
with them.
And it is not n safe matter to undertake to
dispense these robust monkeys who play tho
dickens with tho telegraph lines III the
sIarSely inhabited state of Tabasco. Linemen
have found that OH shooting a monkey swing
ing on the wire they have been pursued by
whole regiment of monkeys, who, with stones
and nuts, have pclted them severely 1T is
10 joke mo es bronla),' said lineman re-
Gently, ito have II tribe Of monkeys pursue
one; they nrc very strong (muy fuertesl and
can hit with d stone or d stick III a fnshiOirto
make n mani howl With i,din, O, thing the
monkeys enjoy hugely"
In the coast country. especially on the gulf
of Mexico side, the wires, from the humid
condition of the mir, oxidize rapidly, and
wire is found by experience to be i'll need OF
replacement in a years time. This adds
heavily to the cost of keeping up the service
Still another difficulty in maintaining
good service in the Hot Land states is the I'M
possibility of acclimating, in many regions,
telegraph operators from the colder table
lands. They easily fall prny'to fevers, and,
if they escape with their lives, they have
been absent from their posts and the service
has suffered So it has been found necessary
to make Use of natives Of those regions, often
mpcrfectly educated, and from whom much
must be borne, perforce, for they make blum
ders with fatal facility and try the patience
of the City of Mexico officials to degree
i'll p1.ct.,,, un,.nll